Over-the-air and cable TV alive and kicking

With many cable, satellite and TV service providers now offering consumers the opportunity to watch movies, TV shows, sports, and more on their mobile devices, industry pundits are quick to prophesize “the end of broadcast TV as we know it”. However, new research reveals that, despite the growth in TV viewing via PC, tablet and smartphones, 80% of Americans say they prefer to watch television on a television.

The survey, which was conducted for BroadStream by market research firm YouGov, also showed that when it comes to real quality entertainment and engagement for what consumers refer to as their “favorite shows,” nothing beats live TV delivered via set-top box or antenna. When asked what devices they used to watch live TV in the past year, 82% of American viewers said they still regularly use their television set, compared to only 14% who use a laptop, 10% a desktop, 8% a mobile phone and 7% a tablet.

The survey also revealed that the majority of viewers (64%) still like to watch their favorite shows in groups i.e. families and friends sitting down together to watch, as has been done for years. In terms of the younger generation, live or linear TV is considered just another stream in their digital lives with about 1 in every 4 young adults (18 to 34), saying they also use their tablet or mobile device while watching television.

“The good news for broadcasters is that live TV still offers a clear advantage to viewers in terms of quality, screen size (thanks to low TV prices), and pure quality content,” said Ben Wolk, President- Sales and Marketing at BroadStream Solutions. The high demand for content is still growing and more channels are needed to target the precise viewing needs of individual consumers, whether it is hyper-local channels in their community or town, or a dedicated channel on a specific topic of interest.”

“The real problem for broadcasters is how to put in place a technology infrastructure that allows them to support this increasing need for content and offer more without breaking the bank and taking up a huge amount of space in the process. We believe that modern, software-based playout systems such as IPS (integrated playout systems) can do much more than traditional hardware-based infrastructures: they take much less space, and are more cost efficient than ever before,” added Wolk.